Hold On
by AuroraRose1959
Summary: Because we all know the side characters were the good part of the Twilight saga. This time we're shifting the focus to the tenacious Rosalie Hale and the easy-going Emmett Cullen. Part One of a planned series.
1. Decision - Rosalie

I was out hunting with Esme when it happened. I hated hunting trips. As much as I craved blood, I couldn't drink it without feeling disgusted with myself. Carlisle applauded my self-control - it had been nearly two years since my transformation and I'd never once tasted human blood - but it wasn't out of a sense of compassion like it was for him. It was out of hatred for what he'd turned me into, hatred I knew would completely consume me if I ever gave in to my vampire instincts. Even feeding on animals would have been vomit-inducing if I were still capable of feeling nauseated.

I was tracking a large deer when I smelled it: the sweet-smelling blood of a human. Quite a lot of it. Before I knew what I was doing, I'd run the quick two miles to the source of the aroma. I stopped short at the sight of a massive bear, easily the largest I'd ever encountered. That brief instant of observation cleared my head enough that I was able to regain some control of myself, and I stopped breathing to better block the intoxicating scent.

The bear was mauling a man sprawled out on the ground, his clothes stained red. But his heart - I could hear it still laboring to continue beating. As I stood deliberating on what I should do, I noticed the man's dark curls. Unbidden, an image of Vera's baby came to mind. The beautiful dark-haired baby I'd so envied. The baby I could never have.

A life as long as mine is filled with many regrets, but what I did next is not one of them. I decided to save that man's life.

Lunging at the bear, I killed the creature in a matter of seconds, but even that short time felt too much. As I knelt over the dark-haired man I knew that he couldn't last much longer. There was so much blood. I trembled with the effort it took to not end his life myself.

I had to get him to Carlisle. Carlisle could save him - one way or another.

Cautiously, I began to lift him off the ground, trying to move him as little as possible. He was not at all heavy, not to me, but he was an especially large man and bulky to carry in my slim arms. I shifted him to keep a better grip and he let out a low moan.

"Hold on," I whispered, careful not to inhale. "I'm going to save you. Just hold on."

For a moment, his eyes fluttered open and he held my gaze. I let myself stare into his sky-blue eyes for a fraction of a second, then took off running.

It was a good hundred miles to get home to Carlisle. I would make it. I had to.

Eighty miles left. The scent of the man's blood was going to drive me into a frenzy. I pictured his eyes, their mesmerizing color, and tried to block out everything but that image and my path home.

Fifty miles. I was exhausted. Partially from running, since I was better at a sprint than a marathon. But mostly from my efforts to not give in to the tantalizing aroma of the blood that was pouring out of him.

Thirty. His heartbeat was so faint.

Twenty. So faint that a few times I feared he had died.

Ten. I began mentally screaming for Edward, trying to tell him what was happening, praying that Carlisle would be ready for me when I arrived.

"Hold on. Please, hold on."


	2. Decision - Emmett

If I'd thought I was in pain before, it was nothing compared to what I felt now. It started in my neck, a sharp piercing. My throat started to burn, from the inside out. Then the burning spread, and when it reached my heart - I didn't know anyone could live through that kind of torture. Right then, being gutted by a bear seemed on par with scraping a knee.

My mouth was locked open in a scream, but no sound came out. I lay writhing in agony, wishing that God had seen fit to let me die.

Maybe the pain was just making me delusional, but I really believed that it was God who was trying to keep me alive, Him and one of His angels. I couldn't imagine that the beautiful creature who'd slaughtered that bear and flown me to wherever the hell I was now, was anything less than an angelic being. And I had hope that the flames I felt inside me weren't the flames of hell, because I'd heard her pleading with God to save me, and I'd heard God say He would. Somehow that's what this torment was supposed to be: my salvation. But all I could think now with this fire burning me alive, was that I wanted it to end, salvation be damned.

"I'm so sorry."

That voice - the same musical voice that had begged me not to die, had begged God not to let me die. The angel. And now she sounded sad, choked up like she'd been crying. My mind shoved the pain aside enough to make room for one thought: I'd do anything to keep this angel from crying.

"I'm so selfish. I should have just left you. I never should have put you through this.

My vision was only clear enough for me to see her light - not her, but the pale glow that I knew could only come from her. She was so close. I wanted to reach out to her, but my body was thrashing under the waves of pain and wouldn't obey me.

"I just had to save you. I had to. I couldn't . . . couldn't let you die. This doesn't last forever, I swear. Just hold on."

Her voice was so full of pain. And I was the cause. She was in pain because I was.

A life as long as mine is filled with many regrets, but what I did next is not one of them. I decided that I would live to make my angel happy.

I poured all of my will into keeping myself perfectly still. She didn't need to see me thrashing around. If quiet endurance would help her in any way, then that's what I would give her.

"So brave."

I felt her fingers, mercifully cold, brush my face. And then she was humming, something slow and lilting, and I clung to her song like a lifeline. I would get through this, with her to hold on to.


	3. Hope - Rosalie

"Hey."

"Hey." I remained seated, not sparing my adoptive brother a glance. "Are you angry?"

"No." The sincerity in Edward's voice prompted me to turn and face him as he explained. "I admit I was a little put out that you would worry Esme, running home without a word like that." I winced. "But," he continued, "I realize there wasn't a way around that. Carlisle told me you cut it pretty close as it was. If you'd hesitated even a minute, your friend here might not have made it."

I opened my mouth to ask a question, but he was already answering, "I think it would have been better for him if you'd let him die. But I understand why you didn't."

If I were still human, I would have blushed. I'd been trying very hard not to understand my own motivation. I had a feeling I might not like it.

Why was Edward even here now? He'd been avoiding this room ever since -

"I've only been staying away because I haven't particularly wanted to be inside his head." My brother gestured toward the man on the makeshift pallet. After all the blood had been cleaned up, Esme had suggested we move him to someplace a bit more comfortable than the table, but in a house that never slept, beds were hard to come by. I hadn't left my place on the floor next to him since we'd moved him here.

I glared at Edward. "Would you stop answering questions I haven't asked?"

He grinned in reply. Then he cocked his head, thoughtful. "He's calmer with you here. He isn't even aware that I'm in the room, he's so focused on you."

As I looked down at young man beside me, I couldn't help but ask, "Has it gotten any better for him? At all?"

"No," Edward said simply.

I grasped the dark-haired man's hand and could feel how tense each muscle in it was. Remembering my own transformation, I couldn't imagine how difficult his self-control must be. All that effort, and when he woke up he'd be rewarded with the knowledge that he was a monster.

"I really should have just let him die." Even as I said this, I ran my free hand through his curls possessively. Whatever I should have done, I knew that if I had the chance to relive the encounter, I'd save him again.

Edward observed, "He likes the way your hand feels." He stared out the window for a long moment. "What you should or shouldn't have done, I think that's for him to decide."

I bit my lip. "Perhaps."

My brother reached out and tucked one of my curls, lank from neglect, behind my ear. "I'm supposed to tell you to go hunt. I should also tell you to go freshen up a bit - you haven't been changed your dress every four hours today and it's starting to worry us." He smiled as I rolled my eyes. "But," he continued, his voice serious, "I won't. You should stay here with him."

I smiled tentatively. "Thank you, Edward."

He inclined his head. "Rose."

When he'd gone, I turned back to the young man, lying so perfectly still. I smoothed one of his dark curls into place. Why had I saved him? If this could even be called saving. I resented Carlisle for turning me into a creature of nightmares. Resented him and Esme for their hopes that I would prove a good mate for Edward. Resented Edward for not wanting me, even though I didn't want him. Resented myself for being too cowardly to leave them.

Me being a vampire hadn't worked out for anyone. So why had I forced this existence on someone else?

My motivation suddenly burst out from the mental walls I'd so desperately tried to contain it in, refusing to let me ignore it any longer. It was a hope, a stubborn, untamable hope that all my powers of reason could not destroy: maybe I didn't have to feel alone.

With that hope came a fear just as strong: this soon-to-be vampire would resent me for his rebirth.


End file.
